| Group strategies | Operating philosophies | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| 2007/08 Group performance | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Reported 52 weeks |
Change on reported 53 weeks |
Change on 52 week basis at constant exchange rates |
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| Like for like sales: | down 0.7% | ||
| Sales: | $3,665.3m | up 3.0% | up 3.2%(1) |
| Operating profit: | $351.3m | down 15.6% | down 15.9%(1) |
| Profit before tax: | $333.5m | down 16.8% | down 17.4%(1) |
| Basic earnings per share(2): | 12.6c | down 18.2% | down 18.7%(1) |
| Proposed dividend per share(3): | 7.277c | up 1.6% | |
| Return on capital employed (“ROCE”)(2): | 16.8% | down | from 22.8% |
| Gearing(2): | 20.7% | up from 13.4% | |
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(1)See Impact of constant exchange rates and 53rd week for reconciliation to IFRS numbers. (2)Earnings per share, return on capital employed and gearing are defined on the Definitions page. (3)2006/07 interim dividend declared in pounds sterling and translated using US$/£ exchange rate as at 3 November 2006. |
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The Company desires to take advantage of the "safe harbor" provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 with respect to the forward-looking statements about its financial performance and objectives in this Annual Report. Readers are referred to "Risk and other factors". The Provision of Section 463 of the Companies Act 2006 applies to the Report of the directors and the Directors' remuneration report (and any summary financial statement so far as derived from them) such that the directors shall be liable only to the Company for anything omitted from these statements or anything in them found to be untrue or misleading.
These results are presented in US dollars following the change in the functional currency of the Company which took effect from 5 February 2007, and the move to reporting in US dollars, see here.
| Excellence in customer service |
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| Superior merchandise selection |
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| Leading brands |
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| High quality real estate |
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